She loves talking about herself in the third person.

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Tag Archives: Tuesdays Suck

Tuesday’s aren’t my favorite day of the week. It still feels a bit like a Monday, it’s a day short of mid-week, and it feels like there’s a reallllly long time till the weekend. Then this morning I get to the station just in the nick of time to jump on the train, with the result there are very few seats left. So yeah, Tuesdays suck.

Because of the dearth of seats I was forced to look for one upstairs. I don’t like riding on the upper level of the train, I’m not sure why. But this morning I’m glad I did because I got to see you, Dear Stranger and that made my Tuesday so much better. On my way past you I caught a glimpse of the screen on your tablet and saw a few people wearing brightly colored garments which might have been uniforms. While I can’t claim to recognize the specific program you were watching, I recognized the style I guess you could call it. The brief look I had reminded me of the old BBC show Red Dwarf or something from a similar time period or genre.

I took the seat across from you and for several minutes I tried leaning my head back and closing my eyes, earbuds streaming my playlist to drown out the recorded PSAs and neighboring conversation. One of the problems with being on the tall side is that seats designed for the average person aren’t all that user friendly. In order to properly make use of the headrest I find myself slouching, which necessitates stretching my legs beyond my approved area. Eventually I gave up and sat up straight. Pulling out my own electronic device, I took my turn at Trivia Crack, blowing a really easy question and bouncing the first game back to my brother before picking up another crown in the game with my gal pal and then missing the very next question. Switching to Solitaire City I glanced out the window while the game loaded. With the sun still in hiding the glass was so reflective I caught sight of you shaking in your seat. It took a second but I realized you were laughing and it made me smile.

Turning back to my phone, I played a few hands of solitaire and listened glumly as they announced the train would be delayed just outside Seattle. “Let’s call it ‘freight interference’” the guy said. Really? You’ve just informed a train full of commuters they’re going to be late for work. Does it matter what you call it?

Again and again my eyes were drawn to you, whether your reflection in the glass or your in-person face across the table from me. You wore an almost perpetual smile and every now and then you would shake with laughter at something you saw on screen. And every single time it made me smile.

So thank you Dear Stranger. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for making my Tuesday so much better than it might have been. I hope your Tuesday is as nice as you’ve made mine.